最近几天，随着亚洲部分地区的新冠病例激增，医疗保健股再次引起投资者的关注。猴痘疫情的暴发让投资者更加关注那些将迅速响应预期需求的公司。The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the monkeypox variant epidemic spreading rapidly in Africa constitutes an "international concern of public health emergency".
According to the app of Finance Intelligence, the World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the monkeypox variant epidemic spreading rapidly in Africa constitutes an "international concern of public health emergency", which is also the highest level global epidemic warning under the "International Health Regulations" framework. Affected by the news, the stock prices of relevant vaccine and medical product manufacturers have risen.
Medical tool supplier Precision System Science rose 36% in the Japanese stock market, while virus testing kit manufacturer Zhejiang Biokang Wang Biological Technology (688317.SH) rose more than 5% in the Chinese stock market. Bavarian Nordic (BVNRY.US) listed on the US stock market rose 33% on Wednesday, which is one of the few companies approved to produce monkeypox vaccines.
In recent days, with the surge of COVID-19 cases in some areas of Asia, medical care stocks have once again attracted investors' attention. The outbreak of monkeypox epidemic has made investors pay more attention to companies that will respond to expected demand quickly.
Manish Bhargava, a fund manager at Singapore's Straits Investment Holding, said: "The monkeypox virus recently appearing in Africa may evoke memories of the COVID-19 epidemic. Given that the monkeypox epidemic is still in its early stages, it is expected that investors will remain cautious and wait for further data before reacting."
The mutant monkeypox virus has spread to at least six African countries, infecting about 150,000 people and causing more than 500 deaths this year alone in Congo. Less than 12 months ago, Congo reported the first case of the mutated virus.
The World Health Organization last referred to monkeypox as an "international concern of public health emergency" in May 2022, when a relatively mild monkeypox epidemic broke out worldwide. A year later, when the World Health Organization lowered the alert level, cases in Africa continued to rise.
Other Chinese companies that provide virus testing products have also received attention. DAAN Gene (002030.SZ) once soared nearly 10%, and Akeso Biopharma (688075.SH) rose by as much as 5.3%.
These stocks performed better than the benchmark CSI 300 index, which rose to 1.4%.
Tony Ren, head of healthcare research at Macquarie Capital Asia, said the market's reaction to the latest epidemic may be short-lived.
He said: "We believe that the impact of monkeypox epidemic on the industry is limited, and we expect that the WHO statement will not have a significant impact on biopharmaceuticals or the broader economy."
